July 18, 2019

Why Americans Can’t Come Up with $400

In Beavercreek, Ohio, the cleanup from a recent tornado has begun. But debris is still piled high on many residents’ lawns.

“What we’re seeing following this tornado is people not having enough cash to pay upfront for house debris removal even though insurance companies will reimburse them,” former mayor Brian Jarvis said on Twitter. The debris cleanup comes on top of other costs like temporary housing in this city east of Dayton.

Much was made recently of a survey in which four of every 10 American families said they could not cover an unexpected $400 expense. But no one explained why. New research has some answers.

Even when people have $400 in their checking or savings accounts, they don’t always feel like they have the money to spend. That’s because they may have already committed the funds to paying off their credit cards, according to an analysis by Anqi Chen at the Center for Retirement Research.

This problem isn’t confined to low- and middle-income people either: 17 percent of households earning more than $100,000 would have to scramble to find the extra $400.

The study uncovered what cash-strapped families have in common. …Learn More